Lubrication oil performs two essential tasks. One is to provide a homogenous protective layer between surfaces that are in relative motion to reduce friction, prevent wear and avoid the catastrophic event of seizure resulting from mating parts. Another role of lubrication oil is to maintain working parts cool, protect against corrosion and flush away contaminants and deposits for the surface of mating parts. Lubrication oil degradation is caused by several factors that include: variation in the electrical, physical, chemical, and optical properties. The main causes for the deterioration are a combination of water contamination, oxidation and particle contamination. Several parameters can be used to monitor the degradation of lubrication oil, such as viscosity, water content, total acid number (TAN), total base number (TBN), particle counting, pH value or others. Other parameters, that correlate well with the standard parameters, such as viscosity measurements, can also be used to identify varying grades of degradation from real samples of oils.
Lubrication oil analysis (LOA) is a process used to derive oil analysis data (for example, physical and chemical properties) from lubrication oil samples obtained from industrial equipment. The industrial equipment can contain rotating and moving parts (for example, gear boxes, hydraulic systems, engines, compressors, turbines or other moving parts), such as equipment used in hydrocarbon-producing wells. LOA can reveal viscosity changes, as well as ferrous and nonferrous contamination. LOA can also indicate corrosion of the equipment, leaks between different parts of the equipment, remedial actions, or other critical machinery diagnostic information. LOA can provide information about the useful lifetime of the lubrication oil along with the status of the lubrication oil. Knowledge of the useful lifetime and the status of the lubrication oil can be used to ensure the reliability and correct functioning of the equipment.